Robert Downey Jr. Doesn’t Suck But May Play Lestat in Anne Rice’s THE VAMPIRE CHRONICLES

Vampire movies are hot even though most are painfully boring.  For every 20 “Twilight” knock-offs (plus “Twilight”), you may get one “Let the Right One In”.  But since everyone wants not only a vampire movie but a vampire franchise (how can you have just one?!), Universal is attempting to pull Anne Rice’s “The Vampire Chronicles” back from the grave.  And there’s only one actor who can raise any franchise corpse from its tomb: Robert Downey Jr.

But surely he wouldn’t take on a third franchise, would he?  Actually, there’s a very good chance he might.  Hit the jump for more details.

As I said in the intro, Universal bringing back “The Vampire Chronicles” makes total sense.  The series, written by Anne Rice, features Lestat de Lioncourt, a French nobleman turned into a vampire in the 18th century, had two adaptations: 1994’s “Interview with the Vampire” and 2002’s “Queen of the Damned”.  These films share not only the Lestat character but guys considered sexy at the time of the film’s release.  Both films were also Rated-R so they were intended for lonely middle-aged women and not tweens.

But Robert Downey Jr. is the new sexy (he was always been sexy but he had trouble getting the word out) and according to Bloody-Disgusting, Universal is very close to grabbing his sweet ass for the part of the Lestat.  There’s no word on how they plan to begin the new franchise although the books began with “Interview with the Vampire” but the second book “The Vampire Lestat” was never adapted.  I only know this because BD supplied a bibliography.  I don’t read “The Vampire Chronicles” every year or something.  I certainly don’t dress up as Lestat and go to conventions.

So does Downey have a third franchise in him?  Iron Man isn’t going anywhere and unless “Sherlock Holmes” flops then he’ll probably return for the sequel.  I’ll see anything if it’s got Downey, even in a supporting role, I’ll see it.  If he ends up taking the part, I’ll see the movie because of him, but not because he’ll be playing Lestat.  I hate Lestat.  He’s totally lame.